Candidates field questions at forum

Oconee County

WATKINSVILLE - Oconee County residents heard Thursday night from 17 candidates vying for a host of local offices in this election year.

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Candidates' remarks fell along some familiar lines, with incumbents touting their experience while newcomers preached the need for new blood and visionary leadership.

The forum, hosted by the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce at the Oconee County Civic Center, went for more than three hours, with candidates fielding questions previously submitted by county residents and asked by University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock, who moderated the session.

Issues receiving the most attention Thursday were residential and commercial growth, the perceived need for increased communication between the school board and the county commission, and the future of Georgia Highway 316.

Also getting attention Thursday was the county's controversial master-planned development ordinance, which allows high-density development combining commercial and residential space.

Almost every commission candidate, including incumbents, said the ordinance most likely will need tweaking.

Chuck Horton, a candidate for the Post 4 commission seat, said the county needs to come up with a strong plan for growth.

''If you don't know where you're going to go, then you're just putting the cart before the horse,'' Horton said.

In other developments Thursday, the two candidates for commission chairman squared off over the issue of whether the position should be full-time.

Both candidates, John Daniell and incumbent Melvin Davis, are Republicans, meaning the race for chairman will be decided in the July 20 primary.

Daniell argued that the position should be part-time, suggesting that a full-time chairman's perspective on issues might be skewed because their livelihood depends on winning elections.

Davis acknowledged Thursday that when he was first elected, he, too, thought the position should become a part-time one.

But, he said, doing the job has convinced him otherwise.

As with the chairman's race, all of the other local races in Oconee County feature only Republican candidates. Any races not decided in the July 20 primary will be decided in an Aug. 10 runoff, meaning that there will be no local races on Nov. 2 ballots in Oconee County.

Oconee residents will get another chance to hear the candidates before the primary.

Citizens for Oconee's Future will host a meet-and-greet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Oconee County Government Annex off Greensboro Highway.